Markheim - Markheim (1972)

After some abscence, here I am back on the saddle with another obscurity ! This strange record was released in 1991, consisting of a soft green paper cover, including two illustrated inserts. Only 200 hand-numbered copies were pressed !

Markheim was formed in 1972 by Andreas Wyden and dissolved the same year in lack of money, leaving some curious demo tapes behind. These guys lived in Paradiso, in the canton of Ticino (the italian speaking part of Switzerland). Some names appear english to me: I presume the band leader Andreas Wyden and drummer Enzo Geninazza are swiss but I have no information about pianist Phillip Reeves and guitarist Trevor Thoms (english nicknames?). The band traveled to Venice during summer 72 in order to record their freshly composed songs. 

The the demo tapes were later on remastered by croatian poet Dubravko Pusek (now living in Lugano) who also financed the whole project ! All tracks and lyrics were composed by Andreas Wyden. The music itself is a mix of crazy progressive, folk and psych rock. Some tracks are rather experimental as well ! My personal favourites are "Birdman" and "Lonely Traveller", two beautiful laid back ballads, and "Anniversary" which is more progressive.

Thank you guys and especially Mr.Pusek for this little spleeping and undiscovered jewel ! Someone will just have to explain where does "Markheim" come from ? Enjoy...

Songs / Tracks Listing:

1. Dirty Woman
2. Birdman
3. Lonely Traveller
4. Long Way To Go
5. Gold Dust In My Eyes
6. Boering
7. Anniversary
8. No Tytle (Stale Bread And Water)
9. Whore House
10. New Day 

Download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P4GHY01G

Jivaros - Cette Lumière Grise / Entre Nos Ombres (1983)

A bit of punky Wave won't hurt ! A digger friend of mine had this little jewel and I'm now proud to own it. This stuff comes from La-Chaux-de-Fonds and was made in 1983 by Patrick Dubois. No more information about it.

One can read a strange message on the back cover: "Jusqu'à ce que vos têtes saignent...", meaning "Until your heads bleed..." 

Anyway, this it good stuff to me: taste a good bassline and a nice drum break !

PS: Patrick Dubois, if you read us, drop a few lines please !

Cette Lumière Grise

Entre Nos Ombres

Ytterbium 70 - Futur Soldat Suisse / C'était Du Vent / Le Temps Ne Tombe Pas En Panne (1983)

Let's now focus on subversive punk rock made in Switzerland ! The story about this band from Lausanne goes like this: a certain "CAM" (nickname) formed Ytterbium 70 in the 70's. In 1983, the band released this provocative and subversive EP "Futur Soldat Suisse" (Future Swiss Soldier), openly promoting antimilitarism. All the songs were composed in 1979 by CAM. Pressed in France, the records got blocked for some time at Thônex's customs post because a swiss customs officer didn't want to take responsibility for letting subversive stuff into the country ! It led to the temporary seizure of 2000 copies and created some buzz in the papers because cases of censorship are rather seldom in Switzerland. It finally went very smoothly as the authorities decided there weren't any reason to destroy the whole stock, fortunately for us ! The single began to sell from April 1st, 1983. Nevertheless, the single was unexpectedly removed from sale only ten days after ! Was the Confederation in the know ? We'll probably never find out. Anyway, it explains why the record is now mega rare and can reach 300$ a copy ! 

"Ytterbium 70" later became "SM-69". Just a detail: all the songs are sung in french; I may translate some songs but it will take some time. If you understand french you can always have a look at the band's website ! http://www.ytterbium.ch/index.html

 

Futur Soldat Suisse

C'était Du Vent / Le Temps Ne Tombe Pas En Panne

Sources:
- http://www.ytterbium.ch/index.html